Going Up
by xeastra
Summary: Dan and Chuck are stuck in the elevator of Blair's building for several hours one night, both of them on the way to declare their real feelings once and for all. Dair vs Chair. Please review, all disclaimers apply.
1. Chapter 1

**I hope you like it, I know that its a _little _bit convenient for them to be put in this position, but I figure it's a great way for them to be forced to thrash out their issues once and for all!**

**Please review! xxxx**

The doors close. Both of the young men in the elevator regard one another, with a reciprocal mixture of distaste and suspicion.

Chuck is carrying a small bunch of red peonies.

Dan is carrying an Amazon-fresh boxed set of six Katharine Hepburn movies.

"She prefers Audrey." Chuck drawled, laconically. He prides himself that if there's even one subject he knows more about than the insufferable Humphrey, it's Blair Waldorf.

"I know." Dan didn't see the point in acting defensive. In the friend stakes at least, he'd long since won.

"What are you doing here, Humphrey?"

"We're having a movie night." Dan was deliberately baiting him, he would not back down over this. He had more right to be there than Chuck, which on the UES was certainly saying something. And for the place to be Blair's building was even more surprising.

"I don't think so." Chuck almost laughed.

"Considering what you've put her through the past few months, if might be wise to be a little less cocky." Dan's tone was sharp, and it made Chuck look up at him for the first time. So that was the attitude he would adopt. Very well.

"What would you know about Blair and I." It wasn't a question, it was a dismissal.

There was a short silence.

The elevator stopped, midway between the eleventh and twelth floors. Chuck exhaled impatiently and pressed the button, twice. Dan looked at him more than a little self-rightously.

The lurch took them both by surprise, as did the sudden lights out.

"What?"

"Shut up, Humphrey." Chuck snarled, turning to the console again and hammering on the Alert button.

"Chuck, it's late, the maintenance guys will be at home."

"You might not have noticed, Humphrey, but places like this have round the clock staff. Especially in the city that never sleeps."

Cliche, Dan judged.

Prole, Chuck reasoned.

Both of them took out their cellphones.

"Nada signal."

"Damn."

It seemed that their positioning between thick floors and within the elevator shaft had blocked their only means of attracting attention.

Either way, and whatever the cause of their current predicament, Chuck Bass and Dan Humphrey were now stuck in a lift together for the forseeable future.

The first reaction was concussive maintenance. Mostly on Chuck's part - beating every surface as though it might help matters. Dan helped with the shouting. Chuck considered making some comment about Dan's fists of fury actually being handy right about now, but decided against it. They were not and never would be friends.

Nobody came to their rescue.

"Face it, Chuck. We're pretty much stuck here." Dan leant against the back wall of the elevator, and sighed deeply.

Chuck grimaced. "This cannot be happenning."

"Why the rush to get rejected?"

"Rejected?"

"If she has even the slightest bit of sense..."

"Careful, Humphrey. Confined spaces and longstanding vitriol are not happy bedfellows."  
"Chuck Bass, of all people." He almost laughs at the irony of it, the heavy-handed plotline that fate has dealt him.

"This is going to be a long night." Chuck leant against the opposite wall, staring balefully at the wall.

Dan nods, for once agreeing. Bitterly.

**What did you think? Only had time for a short opening, but will try and write some more later...**


	2. Chapter 2

**Okay so I've written a little more. It's basically just them talking, but it's things that I really want said. I hope you like it too – I'm kind of on the fence as to an endgame at the moment, but I love how this whole triangle is making the show MASSIVELY more interesting and I hope they do it justice, whatever the final outcome. Hope you enjoy it, and the characters speak as you would have them speak. **

**ALSO want to clarify here that THIS IS NOT SLASH, AND WILL NOT TURN INTO THAT. I did wonder about putting these two as the main characters but seeing as it is literally just them talking, it seemed most accurate. Sorry if you're expecting this to get hot and heavy, but not gonna happen. Not even if they're stuck here for a REALLY long time. **

**Anyway thanks for your other reviews- you have no idea how happy they made me - it really is appreciated, so let me know what you think of this chapter! **

**[All disclaimers apply]**

"Why peonies?" Dan asked, attempting politeness.

"It's a tradition." Chuck said, not looking at him, as though even speaking to a Brooklynite was beneath him.

"Don't you think it's a little unhealthy to have a break-up-make-up tradition?" Dan raised one eyebrow.

"The complexities of Blair and I are _uncomphrendable_ for someone like you."

"You know what I can comprehend? The look on her face when she saw you tell Raina you loved her."

"What?"

"Blair was there, and I was too. On Valentines Day, in the ante-room, behind the curtain."

"What were you and Blair doing in there? Hoping to get a little action, were we Humphrey? Funny, I never took you for a voyeur, but then I suppose it all fits. In a kind of Talented Mr Ripley way."

"You came in suddenly and we had to hide. Either way, she heard and she was devastated. And I can see why. First off, you both decide to take a break until your lives have caught up - next thing she knows, you've fallen in love with your female doppelganger and she's left high and dry."

"It wasn't like that, Humphrey, and you know it."

"I'd never seen her cry like that, until that night, you know? Serena told me she was inconsolable. Even Dorota was worried, and she's seen it all. I dread to think what she was like after the Jack Bass trade-off."

"You don't know anything about that. You don't know Blair. You sure as hell don't know me."

"I do, actually. Blair told me what you did, and frankly, it's sick."

"I had my reasons at the time, even if they were wrong. I believed it was the only way." 

"You know I used to blame you, for me and Blair being over." Chuck said, sounding surprisingly rueful.

"Blame me?"

"You told her about your sister. You came up to us and you threw a huge spanner-"

"You slept with my sister!"

"Blair and I were _just_ about on even footing. I could taste it. We were in a better place than we had been in months. I was inches away from _proposing, _you ignorant prole. I had a ring, you know that Humphrey. Chuck Bass was going to make the ultimate commitment. It sounds absurd now." Chuck's voice sped up and grew hoarser with the memory. That whole evening of reconciliation felt like a dream the next morning, especially confronted with the reality of

"Does Blair know?"

"No. I never told her."

They both considered this silently for a few minutes, broodingly even.

Dan sighed loudly, and changed tactics.

"What do you and Blair do together? Other than sex, scheming and shopping?"

"You don't get it, Humphrey, once again. We have our own dynamic."

"You're the deluded one. Blair and I have so much more in common than you realise. We hang out. Movies, theatre, galleries. She loves all of that."

"I'm not one for High School Musical relationships."

"Better High School Musical than Cruel Intentions. You bring out the worst in her. She feels like she has to keep pace with you, constantly pretending."

"That's not true. We're the same. I am only the best I can be when we are together."

"This isn't about you, Chuck, and that you fail to understand. What does she even get out of a relationship with Chuck Bass? Baubles? The prestige of being The Great Chuck Bass' Girlfriend? All she did with you was give and give. All you do is push and pull at her until she's worn out, physically and emotionally. How can you think that this is healthy?"

"Shut up, Daniel, you have no idea what you're talking about!"

"How many times can you say that, Chuck? You know I do."

"Tell me Humphrey. What chance do you think you possibly have? Honestly? If you know her at all, you know that she and I are more."

"This is turning into a beauty contest? I need to tell you my reasons, then you tell me yours and we work this out? You lost, Chuck. She might have loved you once, but you've systematically done everything you can to break her trust in you."

"Still, I'm intrigued that you think you even think you can beat me at this. Out with is, Daniel. I'm all ears."


	3. Chapter 3

_Thanks again for your lovely and hugely appreciated comments. I know a few people wonder why they haven't started fighting or whatever, but I don't think it's all that realistic. As far as I can remember, Dan has hit him twice in the past and both were to protect Jenny's honour (lol). I don't think it's all that likely they'd get into a fistfight if put into this situation, especially knowing they're both people who definitely take pride in their minds over matter. _

_Hope you enjoy this - it's funny, this is just what is going on between these two in my head as I compare Dair and Chair, it's nice that people actually enjoy to read it! :D_

_As usual, all disclaimers apply. _

**CHAPTER THREE - **

"I know you two had this whole epic Cathy-and-Heathcliff thing going on the past three years, but people change. What you have to realise is that when you fell in love, she was a teenager. All the schemes and playground battles, that was her world then. And there, you thrived. But do you really think she's happy with it all now? Wuthering Heights isn't actually a love story, Chuck. It's a gothic horror novel. What does that tell you?"

Chuck was biting down on his lip, although whether this was to hold in what he wanted to say - or fend off Dan's unwelcome words - was not clear to either of them.

"You are no good for her. You spend all your time chipping away at what she is until you consume her. It's like you can't bear for her to be independent of you, because you pile everything onto her. But think about it for one minute, Chuck. Her dad left, her mum consistently lets her down, even Serena is in and out like their friendship has a revolving door. She can't rely wholly on Dorota for emotional support that you can't provide, which is what she's been doing for years now. How do you think if feels that the one person that you are yourself around is part-time staff? She needs me much more than you can admit to yourself, even now. What are you doing here Chuck?

First there was Eva, then Raina. God knows how many hookers filled in the gaps. You want to know what Blair's been up to since last summer? She had one date with someone in France, and a few meaningless cups of coffee. You've been professing love to these women after a matter of days as though it was nothing, having put her through years of uncertainty. How do you think that makes her feel? Worthless, that's what. You turn up here anytime you get lonely, or decide you have daddy issues, and use her like some sort of emotional punchbag. She can't cope. Her own home life isn't stable enough to be a foundation for your problems. She's trying to carry you while wading through quicksand, and it's just not fair. She deserves so much better than you. And if you can't see that, you don't understand her at all."

Dan exhaled deeply, hardly believing that he'd said so much to Chuck while at the same time satisfaction rose through his body like adrenaline. This needed to be said.

"I know I've hurt her, Dan, you don't think I know that? Every day I have to wake up and realise that my own actions have rendered me alone. Blair knows that she is the only person I've ever loved, and she also knows that we are inevitable. This isn't about a logical choice, Humphrey. Sure, you might be better on paper. But how can you compete with what Blair and I had?"

"What Blair and you had? You were teenagers, and teenagers with an unfeasable amount of power and wealth. You constantly played games, and got off on manipulating those around you. That's not a relationship, Chuck, and the sooner you understand that the happier you'll be." 

"Happier? You think I'm happy now? You think I've been happy at any point in the last few months?" 

"Don't come crying to me because Blair got out. You can't resent her for trying to stabilise her life." 

"Who wants stability?" Chuck sneered, although there was uncertainty colouring his voice. The balance of power within the elevator was slowly shifting. 

"Blair does! And that's the point! She told me herself, she envies Dorota and Vanya. Can you honestly see those two in your sort of twisted relationship?"

There was nothing that could be said to that. Dan knew he was right. Chuck hated him for being right. He kicked the wall viciously, and as the realisation snagged again that he was still stuck in a box with his least favourite person, he sank down resentfully against the back wall of the elevator, trying to think of how to put his own perspective across. Chuck had a lot of charisma, but hadn't ever been that good with words. Humphrey, with his pseudo-intellectualism and literary allusions, may think he had the upper hand, but eventually it was about who was right for Blair.

Chuck wholeheartedly believed that he was the one. He took a deep breath, and tried to explain.


	4. Chapter 4

Hello!

_First off, thanks for all the reviews, subscriptions, favourites etc. It really is quite incredible to me and I am genuinely quite amazed that people (in huge numbers) are reading this story. So thank you, thank you, thank you. So I have been thinking a lot about your comments RE "Chuck's redeeming features" and since I was/am(?) a massive Chair fan I do feel your pain and I'm trying not to make this one-sided. This will be a much more Chuck-centric chapter up pretty soon as he finally starts to put his point across. I agree that Chair had/has(?) the potential to be amazing. Honestly, I haven't even decided the endgame of this story yet, it's just getting underway. All I know is that there will be no Chuck/Dan, so sorry about that. _

_Similarily, to those who are a bit annoyed that this is basically just one long conversation, thats kind of what I'm aiming for. A lot of people (myself included) think Chuck has gotten off a bit lightly this season for what he did and I wanted someone - conveniently Dan - to tell him a few home truths. _

_Obviously, they will get out of the elevator eventually and find Blair but not for a little while. Few more angst-and-anger hours left folks (face it, April is a long way away - we need to kill the time), so if you don't like it, come back later :)_

_Love xxxx_

**Chapter Four:**

Chuck had never been the most patient person, but he was a game-player if nothing else. And when it came to Blair, he had no time for flippant answers. He knew that he'd acted reprehensibly, but it stung that someone as low as Humphrey considered himself to be close enough to Blair to call him on his actions.

He'd expected Serena to be a lot more protective of her best friend, but then it must be difficult for her to be caught between two of her friends. For the most part, she'd stayed aloof. Probably just taking the easy option and warning Blair away from him full-stop. Still. Humphrey's involvement was interesting, and not very worrying. But he was irksome, and his self-righteousness was beginning to grate. If what they had said was true, neither of them had even really talked to one another since Christmas. That was three months. How could he stand there and claim better knowledge of Blair on such short friendship? How could someone like Daniel Humphrey even believe that he could stand shoulder to shoulder with Chuck Bass.

"Frankly, it's insulting that you think we can run in the same race." Chuck's eyes were narrowed. "There's no competition, Humphrey, because whatever happens in the coming days or even weeks, Blair and I are inevitable. We complete one another. it's a different level to what you and she could even hope to achieve. Something so trivial, so downright superficial as taste in movies doesn't even figure into a relationship like ours. We are not special because of what we do together, we are phenomenal because of who we are together. It's something profound. Sometimes not sensible or even logical. But perfection.

Humphrey, you fail to understand the complexities of a real relationship. You adored Serena from afar for years, and I think were it not for Rufus and Lily throwing the Incest Spanner into the works, you'd still be mooning after her, uninterrupted. In some way, you'll probably be obsessed by her until you die. You retreated into the familiarity of Vanessa Abrams' arms as soon as things got remotely intense with Serena. If Blair and I are fire, you are vanilla. Blair is a different species to you, you ignorant prole. You might even see it as settling for Serena's best friend, which in itself goes beyond insult."

"I am not settling for Blair."

"You have known her, and I mean spoken with her for more than five minutes at a time, for less than three months. Blair and I go back to infancy. We are the same, and you cannot help but be an outsider."

"You don't want her Chuck. At least, you only want her when you can't have her. Don't you know how selfish it is to expect her to wait while you're with other women?"

"We did not expect one another to wait, chaste, until the time came. We simply parted in the knowledge that we would find our way back to one another."

"Well she chose to wait."

"For years, Humphrey, you have insisted on involving yourself in our lives. Your whole family has caused nothing but trouble for us all. Thank god you've held of Blair and I for this long, or else I would have had you killed a long time ago." Chuck grimaced and patted his pocket as though remembering something. "This should kill the time." He smiled, but not to Dan, more to himself, and withdrew a leather flask from his pocket.

"Chuck, are you kidding? They'll have us out soon." Dan let the insults slide, seeing as they shared a step-mother, and this stepmother was all Chuck really had of a family, he felt magnanimous.

"Who's they? Nobody is here, Daniel. We're going to be here awhile."

"All the more reason to preserve our resources."

"We'll get out of here eventually, but until then I'd like to forget as much as possible. You have no idea how depressing for me it is to be trapped in a lift with Dan Humphrey. Of all the people in this city." He grimaced again and took a long gulp from the flask. "What a waste."

"I've never liked you either, Chuck." Dan said, matter of factly.

"I've _always_ disliked you." Chuck took another gulp. "You represent everything I despise. Pseudo-intellectual posturing, all this looking down on money as if you genuinely believe that there are more important things. At least Jenny was honest, all she wanted was to be like Blair and Serena. And Rufus has married into this circle. It's just you. I wonder that Blair didn't see though you for the fake you are. Does she realise that you hate everything she stands for, everything that she is?"

"Blair isn't like you, Chuck. She isn't defined by her wealth, her background."

Chuck smiled joylessly. "And I am? And you aren't? Grow up, Humphrey. You don't have any idea, do you?"

Dan felt uneasily like the balance of power had changed somehow in the elevator. How was it that they were being left in here so long? Where were the maintenance people, the building staff? It made no sense.


	5. Chapter 5

A/N: I hope you like where this is headed. It's a bit shorter this time around as I've not had all that much time to write. But next time will be longer. Please review!

* * *

Dan checked his watch again. Time was crawling by with all the enthusiasm of a child going to the dentist. It had been almost two hours, and still nothing? It would be 1am soon, and as they made it closer to morning there'd be even less chance of someone finding them. It seemed absurd that in one of the most expensive, prestigious buildings in the whole of Manhattan - how could they have been stuck here

Chuck was glaring darkly at him, probably blaming him for, well, everything. If this was anybody's fault, it was Chuck's. His fault for complicating everything, throwing a Bass-spanner into the quiet perfection of his and Blair's afternoons together in fringe cinema over Winter Break, their lunches, brunches and movie nights since the semester began. Chuck had been in New Zealand, about as far away as it was possible for him to be. He had -perhaps foolishly - assumed that out of sight was out of mind. But what if Chuck had been right? What if, with all its turbulence and twisted lies, he and Blair were just too strong to be parted? What if he was an interlude, a minor complication on the epic road to Chuck and Blair.

It was funny how from the outside, they had always seemed so perfect for one another. Even from someone who didn't know either of them that well, it just made sense. They had seemed the same, two halves of a whole. But he knew Blair now. He realised now that she was not defined by her scheming, her talent for manipulation or her rabid ambition. A few times in the past, he had seen examples of her fierce loyalty, her unswavering love for her friends - usually directed at Serena, sometimes Chuck. But as they grew closer, and he began to imagine her feeling that strongly about him, he couldn't push the idea of him and Blair from his mind. She was the same prickly, sharp-witted, film noir anti-heroine. But this was tempered by the affectionate pokes at his ego, how funny she could be, how good-natured and how special she could make him feel just by turning and listening to what he was saying. With Blair, there was a definite inflation applied to social interactions. Everything meant more to here than it would to say, Serena. Each touch, glance and word was laden with meaning. It was kind of old-fashioned, like the worlds they enjoyed on screen. And it was addictive. Perhaps this was why Chuck was so dependant on her, so fiercely paranoid that anybody else could find this out. He was like a dragon guarding treasure when it came to Blair, and while it was romantic and all it wasn't all that healthy.

At the same time, he thought realistically about his own prospects with Blair. He knew that he was always in danger of putting those he cared about on a pedestal. And with Blair, that was easy as she took great pains to appear nothing less than perfect every single day. But was he being unfair? The same issues that had been a constantly niggling - and eventually damning - undercurrent in his relationship with Serena were threatening to appear once again. Had he really changed all that much from the Lonely Boy of Gossip Girl's blasts, way back when they were in high school? Had Blair changed enough to make this workable now? Did he even want either of them to change?

"What are you frowning about, Humphrey?" Chuck's words were slower and more deliberate, not slurred exactly, but you could tell he'd been drinking.

"Nothing." Dan said, brusquely. "Nothing."


	6. Chapter 6

_a/n: ok, i'm sorry. i neglected this story while i got on a roll with my other one. also, i admit this is very very short. but i will update more very soon i promise - just need to sort out the ending (pre-penultimate chapter guys!). _

_thank you for all your lovely reviews and alerts and favourites, it means so much!_

_on with the story! CUE BLAIR..._

* * *

**Chapter Six**

_A little earlier..._

"Where the hell are you, Humphrey?" Blair cried aloud, and tossed her phone angrily into the laundry basket (where it would stay until the following morning when a completely unfazed Dorota would find it). The bowl of popcorn she'd made earlier in the evening was already half-eaten. She'd done nothing but pace and snack all evening. WHAT A WASTE. And for what?

Dan hadn't answered any of the calls or texts, and there had been plenty. He was almost two hours late. To make matters worse, Serena wasn't home and she wasn't with her family. She had already began with the paranoid conjectures. A thousand hateful images span through her mind. Who'd have thought she could ever be this jealous of Humphrey? But she was.

No email either. But nothing on Gossip Girl, which had to be a good sign? If anything had happenned, it would be up there first - right?

When had this all started, she mused, flicking through an issue of Vogue - barely registering the contents. When had Dan Humphrey become someone she looked forward to spending time with? Someone she regarded as - it had to be said - something rather more than a friend. How long was it since she'd thought about Chuck, honestly? Not long, but longer than it might have been. She wasn't making any sense, but then none of this did.

She'd give it a little while longer. Just half an hour. Maybe fifteen minutes. He might be just round the corner..?

She'd take control and take action. Action of this sort would require excellent shoes, she pondered, walking purposefully to the closet. This wasn't a time for Viviers...where were the Opening Ceremony platform-peeptoes? Or the red and black Charlotte Olympias? Action, think, action...

How dare he ignore her! This was unacceptable!

Unless something had happenned...maybe he couldn't get to the phone, or his laptop. Maybe-maybe Vanessa was holding him hostage! Tied with duct tape to a radiator in her squalid home. She almost giggled at the thought of a Bunny-boiling Abrams. Ridiculous. Come on, Blair.

But something that wasn't quite so ridiculous was S showing up at the loft - maybe just as Dan was headed out - looking all sad and vulnerable over some fight with Ben. It wouldn't take much. She didn't dare hope that perhaps Dan had moved on from Serena.

Blair liked to think that if the opposite had happenned, and Chuck had turned up out of the blue when she was supposed to see Dan she'd be strong and resolute enough to blithely turn him away and skip off to Brooklyn. But was that really the case? If Chuck turned up, all remorseful and broken up - or just honest, done with Raina and all the games. If that happenned, could she 100%, hand on heart say she'd send him away.

When did life get so complicated?

A little before midnight, Blair strode out to the elevator. She had to do something. She pressed the button, then again. Come on, come on. Nothing was happenning. Everything was quiet in the building, which was unusual as it wasn't even that late yet...

Hang on, was that Dan's voice?


End file.
